1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless headsets, and more particularly, to systems and methods for reducing the amount of power consumed and the amount of radiation emitted from wireless headsets during a sleep mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable digital devices are now common. Examples include the various Windows™ Pocket PC devices which have an operating system created by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Other examples include Android devices licensed by Google of MountainView, Calif. Other devices include various mobile phone devices including many that have built-in camera imaging devices. Still other portable digital devices include portable media players from Creative Media of Singapore, Samsung of South Korea, Archos, Inc. of Irvine, Calif. and Apple Computers, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Additionally, Sony of New York and Japan manufacture a portable game playing device called the Sony PSPT™ (PlayStation Portable).
Increasingly, many of these portable media devices include a means of transmitting and receiving digital content. Various communications technologies are frequently built into these devices. Examples of portable communicating devices include mobile phones which employ GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, and FOMA technology, among other standards, to send and receive data in addition to handling voice communications. Many of the portable media devices also include transmission capabilities including WiFi (IEEE 802.11a, b, g and x among others), Bluetooth, infrared, etc. to allow the user to transmit and receive digital content. Furthermore, some mobile devices having transmission capabilities can use this capability to achieve voice communications such as by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) when connected to the Internet or other packet switched networks.
Due to these advanced features, mobile telephones and other mobile devices are some of the most prevalent consumer electronic devices. Hundreds of millions of these devices are sold each year and are used around the world.
However, an issue of concern with the extensive use of mobile devices, particularly mobile phones, is that during use mobile devices are placed next to the user's head, thereby exposing the user's head to electromagnetic radiation as a result of transmitting and receiving cellular signals between the mobile device and mobile communication towers. Bluetooth-enabled devices are often used with mobile phones to not only allow the user to talk hands-free, but also to move the powerful transmitter of the mobile device away from the user's head. For example, a wireless headset may be worn on the user's ear while the actual mobile phone may be kept in a pocket of the user's clothing, on a belt clip, in a purse, or in another area away from the user's head. In this scenario, a Bluetooth-enabled wireless headset and the mobile device are able to communicate over a short range communication channel using less power than the cellular transmissions, thereby resulting in much less radiation exposure to the user's head.
Often, a user may leave a wireless headset on his or her ear even when not in use. When the user wishes to make a call or is receiving a call, the headset is already in place and the user does not have to insert the device into or on his or her ear. One problem with this practice though is that when a wireless headset is in a sleep mode, the device continues to operate at low levels by sniffing for a signal so as to know when to awaken. Therefore, the user may be exposed to unwanted radiation from the wireless headset even during the times when the device is in the sleep mode. Various studies are now reporting that this radiation, although small may be harmful to humans especially because of continual exposure.